Google's first Nexus-branded tablet is a compelling device offered at an aggressive price point — a combination that could make the Nexus 7 a fierce competitor to Amazon's Kindle lineup, though it won't likely have much of an effect on Apple's current, larger iPad.

Starting at just $199 for the 8-gigabyte model, going up to $249 for double the capacity, the Nexus 7 is clearly an aggressive effort by Google to push Android in the tablet space and an attempt to counter Amazon's Kindle Fire. Google has good reason to go after the Kindle Fire: Amazon's own touchscreen tablet, released less than a year ago, essentially hijacked Google's work on the Android platform to make its own forked tablet operating system.

In countering the Kindle Fire, Google's Nexus 7 is an indisputable success. While the $199 price point was essentially the main selling point for the slow and limited Kindle Fire, the Nexus 7 would be a compelling device for consumers looking for a 7-inch tablet at prices much higher than the $199 Google is asking. Unlike the Kindle Fire, the Nexus 7 has adequate horsepower to do most of the activities users have come to expect with a tablet.

But because of its smaller screen — particularly its narrow width when used in portrait mode, which is the default orientation — the Nexus 7 feels like a device that is better suited for reading e-books or light Web browsing. The device's form factor, combined with a relative lack of enticing tablet-specific applications for Android, simply puts it in a different class of device — and an entirely different market segment — than Apple's market leading iPad.

User experience and hardware

If first impressions are everything, the packaging of the Nexus 7 stumbles right out of the gate. Attempting to slide the box cover off and get to the tablet is an unnecessarily difficult task thanks to a strange packaging choice. We weren't the only ones to encounter this issue, as the video below clearly demonstrates.

Once it's finally out of the box and up and running, the most noticeable feature of the Nexus 7 is how snappy and responsive the device is, thanks to optimizations in Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean," plus the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a full gigabyte of RAM. While previous versions of Android and older Android hardware had a noticeable lag in user interface responsiveness, the Nexus 7 feels akin to what iPhone and iPad users are already accustomed to.

On page 2 of 4, more on the hardware, including performance, weight and battery life

Single-handed use of the device is aided by a rubberized textured back that feels good in the hand. The Nexus 7 is thicker than a third-generation iPad, and can be grasped on one side or squeezed from both ends in portrait mode by a user with adequately sized hands.

Unlike with Apple's heavier, larger iPad, which needs the larger bezel in order to be held without touching the display, the smaller Nexus 7 can get away with a thinner bezel on the sides and still be comfortably held without inadvertently touching the screen. The bezel on the top and bottom of the device is noticeably larger than on the sides when in portrait mode, despite the lack of dedicated hardware buttons below the screen like Apple has on its iOS devices.

Comparing the iPad and Nexus 7 head to head, the greatest advantage Google's tablet has is its weight. Apple's new iPad with Retina display weighs in at 1.44 pounds, while the Nexus 7 is 0.75 pounds, making it even lighter than the 0.9-pound Kindle Fire.

The Nexus 7 also offers the kind of battery life iPad users have come to expect. Like with Apple's tablet, we found we can go several days without needing to recharge the Nexus 7, even with regular daily use.

The display packs in 216 pixels per inch, which is not as high resolution as the new iPad with Retina display, but still makes for a pleasant reading experience.

Other hardware features of the Nexus 7 include a rear speaker, a headphone jack on the bottom, a Micro-USB charging and syncing port on the bottom, and two microphones. The device lacks a rear-facing camera, which may bug some users, but didn't strike us as much of an issue.

It's also worth noting that the Nexus 7 has physical volume buttons on the side, next to the screen lock button. Ordinarily this wouldn't be much of an inclusion, but the lack of hardware volume buttons on the Kindle Fire was an inexplicable omission from Amazon's touchscreen tablet.

The Nexus 7 also has a slightly exposed magnetic spot on its side that will allow for use of a magnetic screen cover, much like Apple has offered since the iPad 2. Inside, the Nexus 7 also has an NFC chip that allows the device to be used with Google Wallet compatible pay stations.

Software, apps and content

As the Nexus 7 runs Jelly Bean, the latest major release of Android, it comes preinstalled with Google's Chrome browser. Browsing the Internet on the Nexus 7 works as expected, in an experience largely identical to using Chrome on iOS devices, including automatic syncing of open tabs and bookmarks.

As iPad users, we found the digital navigation buttons at the bottom screen in Android took some getting used to. When using the onscreen digital keyboard, particularly when in landscape mode, we frequently found ourselves accidentally tapping the home button at the bottom of the touchscreen display when we meant to press the keyboard located just above it. Apple's dedicated hardware home button on the iPad is a better design choice in this respect.

Speaking of landscape mode, there's another strange, inexplicable quirk with the Nexus 7 that we encountered: The auto-rotate screen feature was not enabled by default. This was addressed by a relatively easy fix, by simply enabling the feature under the "Accessibility" section in Android's Settings. However, the question must be asked: Why isn't this enabled out of the box? The answer may be the Nexus 7 feels best used in portrait mode, due to its relatively small screen and narrower-than-iPad 16-to-10 portrait mode.

Even when auto-rotate is turned on, it's only available in applications that support it. The Nexus 7's Android home screen cannot be operated in landscape mode — only portrait. Users will likely want to run a third-party launcher to enable use of the home screen in landscape mode.

Applications remain the Achilles' heel of Android tablets. While there are plenty of options to download in the Google Play store, almost none of them feel like they were designed to take full advantage of the larger screen of the Nexus 7. Even many of the native applications found in Android 4.1 give the impression that they have just been stretched to fill up the screen.

While applications are limited, content on Android is competitive enough to go toe-to-toe with Apple's iTunes as well as Amazon. While the selection at Google Music isn't as broad (you can't purchase The Beatles or Metallica, for example), users can upload their own library, including non-DRM iTunes tracks, to their Google Music account for cloud storage.

The best argument for a 7-inch tablet may be e-books. It's here again that the thin width of a 16-to-10 ratio display and the light weight of the Nexus 7 shine, allowing a user to hold the device with one hand if they choose. In our view, the weight is probably the biggest knock against Apple's current iPad.

While the smaller size of the Nexus 7 is good for e-books, it's less than idea for digital magazines, which must be shrunk down too much to fit the small 7-inch screen. As with on the iPad, too many magazines for the Nexus 7 are essentially PDF-style scans of the same printed product. While this is problematic enough on the iPad, it requires even more inconvenient zooming and scrolling on the Nexus 7.

Making the Nexus 7 an even greater value beyond its $199 price is the fact that Google is currently offering all customers a $25 credit to its Google Play store. This is an obvious effort by Google to get Android users into the idea of purchasing applications for its mobile operating system, something users of Apple's iOS App Store already do in droves. While the selection and quality of applications for Android doesn't compete with Apple, a free $25 credit to purchase anything from Google, including music and books, is a welcome addition that sweetens the pot even more.

On page 4 of 4, thoughts on an "iPad mini," conclusion and final score

A different market

Despite a current lack of dedicated Android tablet apps, the Nexus 7 is a compelling piece of hardware. While the Kindle Fire felt like its main selling point was the low $199 price point, Google's Nexus 7 goes beyond its low cost and provides relatively powerful hardware inside a well-built package. The truth is, the Nexus 7 would still be an attractive product at an even higher price point.

That said, this device is no iPad, and it doesn't even feel like it was made to compete with Apple's market dominating tablet. The narrow screen feels best suited for primarily reading books with the occasional Web browsing and app usage, which pits the Nexus 7 as more of a Kindle competitor than an iPad challenger.

While the Nexus 7 is easy to recommend for anyone looking for a tablet in the smaller 7-inch class, it would be inadvisable for anyone who can wait to buy in to this market segment now. Apple is widely expected to debut its own smaller iPad later this year with a 7.85-inch display that will be larger than the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire, but still considerably smaller than the 9.7-inch iPad.

Having spent time with the Nexus 7 and felt how responsive the device is, it's easy to see how a smaller iPad would be a big seller. A powerful tablet in a compact form factor feels like a device meant for different uses than a full-sized iPad. If Apple can produce a smaller iPad that is significantly lighter than the current model, allowing for the device to be easily held with one hand, we'd welcome such a product, even without sandpaper in the box.

Rating

The Good

A bargain at $199 with $25 in free Google Play credit

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and the quad-core processor are responsive and smooth

Small and light enough to be held with one hand

The screen is good for its size, but it's no Retina display

The Bad

Impressively unbiased review. The Nexus 7 is a fantastic piece of hardware and software. I love that your only negatives are about it are android apps and the iPad mini. I actually think the android apps are more of a plus than a negative. All current android apps run full screen natively right out of the box on the Nexus 7. Something that the iPad mini might not be able to say. That being said, do you think apple can(will) compete on price? $199 is quite cheap. If the iPad mini is $299 I'd go for a Nexus 7. If it's $199, I'll take the iPad mini.

Impressively unbiased review. The Nexus 7 is a fantastic piece of hardware and software. I love that your only negatives are about it are android apps and the iPad mini. I actually think the android apps are more of a plus than a negative. All current android apps run full screen natively right out of the box on the Nexus 7. Something that the iPad mini might not be able to say. That being said, do you think apple can(will) compete on price? $199 is quite cheap. If the iPad mini is $299 I'd go for a Nexus 7. If it's $199, I'll take the iPad mini.

Personally i think apple with hit the $299 mark, just my guess.

I have 2 android tablets & an iPad, motorola xoom & the samsung galaxy tab 7.7, honestly i haven't found one app (android) that feels like it takes advantage of the screen size (not including games) they really feel like stretched phone apps.

just for fun i'll take some screen shots in a sec just to compare them.

Ps. i liked the review, i really wanna give jb a play now see how it feels different to ics

A one who's owned a Nexus 7/16gb sunce the day it was released, I can say (without reservation) that it's the 7inch Tablet Done Right, with exceptional ergonomics, build-quality, and easily the smoothest, most advanced/cohesive mobile operating system yet conceived - Brilliant Device at an almost 'unbelievable' Price Point.

I bought one for my wife. She was using my iPad 2 (32gig) as an e-reader. A $600 device for reading. So I wanted to her get something cheaper but yet, could do a little more than just reading kindle books. I broke down and bought this android device. As it turns out, it's great for her and yes the interface is very snappy. Great for reading and the occasional facebook and web browsing. Im actually impressed with it. I personally would like a different form factor as Im used to the iPad aspect ratio. But for $199, if my iPad suffered a terrible death. Maps on it is way better than iOS 6, lets hope the official release gets it right.

I would consider the Nexus as a cheap replacement...Until the iPad mini, IF, there is going to be such a thing.

Oh and she likes to too. However, I think she's only installed 2 apps on it. That's the very reason why i got it for her, the iPad was overkill for reading ebooks.

Unless Apple doesn't reject Google apps at the AppStore, I'd say Google go and release a tablet where Google Earth really shines, with StreetView, and with never seen multitouch gestures on it. Such tablet should be the iPad IMHO, but if Apple pretends to avoid it, please Google go, go, go!! and release the tablet where Google Earth and Street View shine!!

A one who's owned a Nexus 7/16gb sunce the day it was released, I can say (without reservation) that it's the 7inch Tablet Done Right, with exceptional ergonomics, build-quality, and easily the smoothest, most advanced/cohesive mobile operating system yet conceived - Brilliant Device at an almost 'unbelievable' Price Point.

I bought one for my wife. She was using my iPad 2 (32gig) as an e-reader. A $600 device for reading. So I wanted to her get something cheaper but yet, could do a little more than just reading kindle books. I broke down and bought this android device. As it turns out, it's great for her and yes the interface is very snappy. Great for reading and the occasional facebook and web browsing. Im actually impressed with it. I personally would like a different form factor as Im used to the iPad aspect ratio. But for $199, if my iPad suffered a terrible death. Maps on it is way better than iOS 6, lets hope the official release gets it right.

I would consider the Nexus as a cheap replacement...Until the iPad mini, IF, there is going to be such a thing.

Oh and she likes to too. However, I think she's only installed 2 apps on it. That's the very reason why i got it for her, the iPad was overkill for reading ebooks.

for me the wife took the ipad and i used it mostly for reading

looking for something cheap just to read. Might buy a kindle fire this holiday season and even thinking of trading in my iphone for a Galaxy Note 2. its a lot better for reading than the iphone and i don't want to carry around 2 devices

A one who's owned a Nexus 7/16gb sunce the day it was released, I can say (without reservation) that it's the 7inch Tablet Done Right, with exceptional ergonomics, build-quality, and easily the smoothest, most advanced/cohesive mobile operating system yet conceived - Brilliant Device at an almost 'unbelievable' Price Point.

lmao

Yeah... Only 1... If he liked it, he'd have at least 9 of 'em...

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

There wouldn't be if people like you did not exist. Android is as different from iOS as possible. Windows 7 and OSX have more in common. I would know. I own a Galaxy Nexus and original iPad and a Windows 7 desktop and a macbook air. And your argument goes both ways. Notifications come to mind as one example. But that doesn't bug me. I want the best possible devices with the best possible software. I don't care where they get their ideas from.

There wouldn't be if people like you did not exist. Android is as different from iOS as possible. Windows 7 and OSX have more in common. I would know. I own a Galaxy Nexus and original iPad and a Windows 7 desktop and a macbook air. And your argument goes both ways. Notifications come to mind as one example. But that doesn't bug me. I want the best possible devices with the best possible software. I don't care where they get their ideas from.

Actually, iOS, Android and OS X are all based on 'Nix and are structurally similar. Windows is completely different.

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

Google's business model rely on you keeping as much of your personal and owned/rented content in the cloud on their servers so they know all your dirty little secrets weird fetishes. So when you're on the plane flying somewhere and want that movie or play a game only to realize oh yeah it is in the cloud and even though you're flying through them right now you can not access your content.

+1. Good to see something see something as objective as this on AppleInsider.

I've been impressed with the Nexus 7 myself - the performance is excellent and the price is very attractive. I agree that its shortfall is the quality and quantity of apps though.

I agree. I've played with a few of these since they were released and my impressions are pretty much the same as the article.

I do think the "bad" of the software selection is not really emphasised enough though. Every review of an Android tablet mentions it, but it really needs to be highlighted as it keys right in on what the tablet is useful (or not useful) *for*.

The fact is that Android not only has "very few tablet quality apps", it is also completely lacking in any "serious" or "productive" tablet apps within that small group. If you buy an Android tablet, especially a 7" one, you are buying it for media consumption. Period.

There are no decent Android word processors, no drawing or image editing programs even close to iPhoto or Photoshop. There is nothing that even approaches Garage Band or iMovie. These tablets are for reading books and light fooling around.

Anyone wanting to buy a tablet for a friend of family member can easily chose between iOS and Android by asking some simple questions about what the intended use is. If your relative or friend just wants to read books, watch the occasional movie and cruise the web, then Android. If It's intended to actually replace a computer, then iOS.

I agree. I've played with a few of these since they were released and my impressions are pretty much the same as the article.

I do think the "bad" of the software selection is not really emphasised enough though. Every review of an Android tablet mentions it, but it really needs to be highlighted as it keys right in on what the tablet is useful (or not useful) *for*.

The fact is that Android not only has "very few tablet quality apps", it is also completely lacking in any "serious" or "productive" tablet apps within that small group. If you buy an Android tablet, especially a 7" one, you are buying it for media consumption. Period.

There are no decent Android word processors, no drawing or image editing programs even close to iPhoto or Photoshop. There is nothing that even approaches Garage Band or iMovie. These tablets are for reading books and light fooling around.

Anyone wanting to buy a tablet for a friend of family member can easily chose between iOS and Android by asking some simple questions about what the intended use is. If your relative or friend just wants to read books, watch the occasional movie and cruise the web, then Android. If It's intended to actually replace a computer, then iOS.

Android == Consumption, iOS == Production.

That's what makes the Nexus 7 great. It runs all android phone apps natively at full screen. It has literally hundreds of thousands more apps than the iPad does because of this. And, I have never come across an app that my iPhone had that my Galaxy Nexus does not.

That's what makes the Nexus 7 great. It runs all android phone apps natively at full screen. It has literally hundreds of thousands more apps than the iPad does because of this. And, I have never come across an app that my iPhone had that my Galaxy Nexus does not.

Pure FUD.

Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands more iOS apps than Android apps. So for your statement to be correct, there must be MANY hundreds of thousands of iOS apps that won't run on the iPad.

I'll settle for you naming just 10.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

I wouldn't say that. There always seems to be animosity from Apple-folk against ANYTHING that competes with Apple products no matter who they are.

Historically the animosity (and ridicule) was mostly in the other direction. Having been using Macs since the original, I know from first hand experience. There may be a bit of "payback" going on now that Apple is so successful.

Pure FUD.
Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands more iOS apps than Android apps. So for your statement to be correct, there must be MANY hundreds of thousands of iOS apps that won't run on the iPad.
I'll settle for you naming just 10.

I'm pretty sure he's referring to how apps scale on Android vs how they scale on iOS

This review just makes me want an iPad Mini that much worse. The picture where the iPhone, Nexus 7, and iPad are all stacked is a thing of beauty.... a small iPad would be PERFECT for my use... the iPad isn't too big really- but I would prefer it to be smaller.

Nexus 7 is a great product. Yes android has a tablet app problem, but I see that getting fixed daily.Because the way apps function on android one app is all you need, as long as you build it right, it will translate correctly to any android screen size. Perfect examples of this include netflix, evernote, Beyondpod, TED, IMBD ect.. there are thousands upon thousands of apps like this in google play. One single app includes phone ui, 7 inch screen ui, and 10.1 inch ui.

I think androids method is easier and more modern. If apple ever start including more screen sizes as they are with the ipad mini. Having an app for iphone, a seperate one for ipad, and then another one for ipad mini seems ridiculous. I hope apple copies android's methods.

The bigger problem android apps have is that they look like shit and don't follow google's ui guidelines. That is changing too, but some apps make me want to throw my android products out the window. On my ipad my apps look great and function great. On android they function great as well but look like crap. Its changing one of the biggest offenders was pandora and it went holo (the name for android's ui).

Android has gotten to the point where its pretty much on par with ios as far as apps go, it just that ios apps look much much better.

Pure FUD.
Keep in mind that there are hundreds of thousands more iOS apps than Android apps. So for your statement to be correct, there must be MANY hundreds of thousands of iOS apps that won't run on the iPad.
I'll settle for you naming just 10.

I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're wrong. Android has 600,000 apps in the Play store as of June 2012.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_market) iOS has 650,000 as of June 11, 2012 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_(iOS)) This seems to be very common among Apple users. They don't realize how much the Play store has caught up. Android has seen insane growth. Apps seem to be the thing Apple users always point to as a reason not to switch and I think it no longer applies anymore.

Edit: And P.S. based on current growth of the number of apps, the Play store is going to take over the lead for number of apps this year. This doesn't even include the other app stores available to android. I'm not going to argue quality of the apps because that is too subjective and there are far too many apps to make a blanket statement.

I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're wrong. Android has 600,000 apps in the Play store as of June 2012.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_market) iOS has 650,000 as of June 11, 2012 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_(iOS)) This seems to be very common among Apple users. They don't realize how much the Play store has caught up. Android has seen insane growth. Apps seem to be the thing Apple users always point to as a reason not to switch and I think it no longer applies anymore.

Yep when it comes to phone apps, ios and android app ecosystem are equal.

Well, that'll be it for the Nexus (not that it's got much of a shot against the current iPad.) Hope Google can sell as many as possible in the meantime.

Google will still sell them, people will still by them, $200 will still be the base price. Yes the ipad mini will sell way more but google will also sell a lot. Its a great product at a great price point. It might even be better than the ipad mini. who knows?

I bought one for my wife. She was using my iPad 2 (32gig) as an e-reader. A $600 device for reading. So I wanted to her get something cheaper but yet, could do a little more than just reading kindle books. I broke down and bought this android device. As it turns out, it's great for her and yes the interface is very snappy. Great for reading and the occasional facebook and web browsing. Im actually impressed with it. I personally would like a different form factor as Im used to the iPad aspect ratio. But for $199, if my iPad suffered a terrible death. Maps on it is way better than iOS 6, lets hope the official release gets it right.

I would consider the Nexus as a cheap replacement...Until the iPad mini, IF, there is going to be such a thing.

Oh and she likes to too. However, I think she's only installed 2 apps on it. That's the very reason why i got it for her, the iPad was overkill for reading ebooks.

I find myself in a similar position. I've got an iPad 3, and I can't remember the last time I opened anything other than Mail, Safari or iBooks. Really, $600 has proven to be a lot of money for just that, and while the iPad 3's screen is stellar for reading, the size and weight of it makes it not that pleasant of an experience.

I'm holding out to see if the iPad mini rumors are true. If they turn out not to be, in 6 months or so I can see myself selling the iPad and getting a Nexus.

Personally i think apple with hit the $299 mark, just my guess.
I have 2 android tablets & an iPad, motorola xoom & the samsung galaxy tab 7.7, honestly i haven't found one app (android) that feels like it takes advantage of the screen size (not including games) they really feel like stretched phone apps.
just for fun i'll take some screen shots in a sec just to compare them.

Ps. i liked the review, i really wanna give jb a play now see how it feels different to ics

Your Xoom should've been updated to jb.

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" Mark Twain"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX

The music playing in the background is Humouesque... Made popular in 1963 by Alan Sherman with his recording of Camp Grenada....

The Alan Sherman reference is dead on, but the piece is "Dance of the Hours" from Amilcare Ponchielli's long-winded and rarely performed opera La Gioconda. The dance was also used to great effect in Disney's Fantasia (in the segment with the dancing hippos) and a parody by Spike Jones, which was in turn used as the theme to the original, syndicated (half-hour) version of SCTV.

Unless its a Verizon zoom. That's one thing that Apple wins hands down on. Access to direct updates to end users. Google has gotten better but it's still nothing compared to Apple's ability to roll over the carriers.